A funny thing happened this morning when one of us got up early to watch the scenic sail into the harbor of San Diego. It was supposed to begin around 6am with the bow opened and San Diego Rolls to enjoy. However, the Volendam was already docked at 6am or earlier. The only explanation we could think of was there may have been a medical emergency during the night, and the Captain did not announce a change in plans. The only clue we had to a medical debark was seeing an ambulance and a fire truck with lights flashing on The Embarcadero Road. Nothing was mentioned even though there were a handful of guests out on the bow early, also surprised to see we were docked. Oh well, there were plenty of rolls and coffee to enjoy.
There were 274 guests debarking today with about as many boarding for the final 2 weeks of this cruise. The new guests had to do the muster check-in with their assigned stations, but the rest of us did not have to attend.
It appeared the ship was bunkering fuel as well as being serviced by a barge with a large crane. Maybe we were getting the promised lounges for the verandas, which would be nice. However, as the morning advanced we saw the crane lifting a new anchor to the bow of the ship. Oh well, so much for those new lounge chairs. It was interesting watching the procedure, something we seldom witness.
After breakfast, we paid a visit to the future cruise consultant to look into booking some cruises in 2028. By doing this now, we can get some extra shipboard credit which always helps.
So what is there to do in San Diego? There were some tours today, but three of them were transfers to the airport. Depending on the flight times, one tour was to the San Diego Zoo for 6 hours and $136, and the other one was San Diego highlights for 4 hours and $96. Both would end up at the nearby San Diego airport. The Old Town trolley was 2 hours for $80 and the San Diego Zoo for 6.25 hours was $140. Lunch was on your own. Old Town ghosts and gravestones was 3 hours and $70 while the San Diego SEAL ride was 1.5 hours for $80. Last was a ride to the Temecula Countryside with a vineyard and wine tasting for 5.5 hours and $220. A picnic lunch was included.
The weather was a mixed bag with overcast skies and some sun shining through occasionally. The morning temps were 61 degrees, with 81% humidity. There was a slight breeze of 10.4 mph. We are so used to being here in October when the weather is more summer-like. Today, it was pleasant enough to go without a sweatshirt, but still cool when the clouds blocked the little bit of sunshine that appeared.
We took the same walk we always do, turning right from the terminal and heading along the waterfront. It was a Sunday morning, and the traffic and local people were few in numbers. That would change as we got closer to the Petco ball park. The USS Midway aircraft carrier was already full of tourists who were taking in the museum of this ship which had seen action during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War operations and the Persian Gulf. This ship was turned into a museum in 1992. If we had wanted to visit this aircraft carrier, we would have had to obtain tickets online well ahead of time as it books up quickly.
Had we turned left from the terminal, there was the Star of India, an old sailing ship turned into a museum as well. Other vessels docked here were the Californian, HMS Surprise, San Salvador, Medea submarines and the USS Dolphin, all full of maritime history. Once again, tickets were available online well in advance of our visit. When we are here in the fall, the Star of India is decorated with Halloween decorations making it appear more like a pirate ship. Really cool.
The waterfront on the Embarcadero had the usual souvenir stands selling all types of treasures. Many times people that arrive here on cruise ships do not anticipate the fact that it can be cool on the harbor waters. So many smart vendors have pretty decent sweatshirts for good prices. If we had stopped in San Francisco, we would have seen some of the same items for sale. We have purchased some of those hooded sweatshirts and reversible jackets for great prices. Sorry to say, we did not stop in “our city” this time.
Our next walk was through Seaport Village which is only .6 mile from the cruise terminal. It can be described as a charming waterfront destination with coastal breezes, boutique-like shops, cafes and restaurants with a pond and some fountains here and there. It is a good spot for families and fast-food type options as well. Being that today was a Sunday, it was getting busy with kids and their parents.
We always enjoy walking past the marina here which is loaded with vessels from small pleasure boats to the ultra-modern luxury yachts and dinner boats. The last hotel on this stretch of the promenade walk is the Hilton. A little bit further, maybe .25 miles, we would have been at the base of the Coronado Bridge. There is a ferry located here that runs from the hotel area to the island and other parts of the harbor.
Going up the escalator, and passing through the lobby of the Hilton, we made our way to the outside walkway passing the parking garage of the hotel. This led us over the major highway where a train runs. Today that train was stopped on the tracks below. Usually, there are only a handful of people using this overpass, but today it was loaded with families and fans on their way to a Padres and White Sox baseball game. Wow, we have never seen so many groups of people heading to the park. The closer we got, we realized that the elevator was closed down to the street below and we had to take the stairs. It is one of those elevators where you have to hold your breath while it goes down because we think some homeless people sleep in there at night. Just as well, it took one of us a little longer to do the flights of steps, but we made it.
It was interesting to see the entrances to the ball field with the restrictions on what you are allowed to bring in there. The good old days are gone when you could bring bags of food or backpacks or even drawstring pouches. And each and every entrance had security guards as well as police with dogs. We turned left around the park and made our way towards the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District. Normally this area is asleep until later in the day and definitely full of activity at night. However, with the game about to start, all of the nearby pubs and cafes were over-flowing with customers. The restaurants with patio TV’s were the most crowded and noisy.
Our destination was back down towards the terminal and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, a favorite place we enjoy when at home. Being located closer to the Embarcadero, they were about full of customers, but we did find one of the high-top tables to sit. We ordered beverages of Coke Zero and one Stella draft beer. Our preferred salad is the “Skinnylicious” Mexican tortilla salad with extra ranch dressing, which is particularly excellent here. Their French bread and dark Indian bread is also a nice treat with the shared salad. While here, we were able to go online easily and update the Kindle. Many of the games had expired, so now they should last for the next two months. We added a dessert without looking at the menu which was a brownie sundae. It was huge with three triangles pieces of solid Godiva chocolate with whipped cream- topped vanilla ice cream between the peaks. Decadent cannot begin to describe it. It will take miles and miles to work this off, but worth it.
We took our time walking back to the terminal taking advantage of the several benches along the waterfront. When the sun peeked out it was quite pleasant and fun watching the locals pass by. The larger harbor ferries were loading folks here, which surprised us how busy they were. Being within sight of the Volendam, we noticed that the Seaview Pool was filling with guests getting their seats for the 4pm complimentary wine and cheese sail away. And it was only 3pm. That’s one reason we seldom attend those melees especially when it is advertised as “free”.
We went back before 4pm and never left the room. It had been a long day with lots of exercise, and we looked forward to the scenic sailing right from our veranda. There were a few folks that were missing by 5pm, and we are not sure they made it to the ship on time. Captain Frank came on with a reminder to the newbies to do the muster station drill, then he continued to say we had been plugged into the shore power services today, and once unplugged, we would be dropping the lines by 5pm. He welcomed the new guests and mentioned what a nice day it had been in San Diego. The temperature had reached 70 degrees with partly cloudy and sunny skies. The pilot was already onboard which was good, but he did apologize for the fact the clocks had to be set forward one hour tonight. The sunset was 7:30pm and the sunrise would be about 7am. He expected good weather as we sailed for the next port of Manzanillo, Mexico in two days.
Nice to be back at our regular dining room table, we ordered the tostada appetizers, one spicy shrimp cocktail, and one bowl of chicken noodle soup, not on the menu. One of us had the pork chop, and the other the enchilada barbacoa dinner. Tasty, but too much, we were still full from lunch. Desserts were a sliced banana and Jello.
Looking forward to two days at sea and some warmer weather.
Bill & Mary Ann
